Front axle



Nov. 2 1926 1,605,852 E. C. LITCHFIELD ET AL FRONT AXLE Filed March 26, 1923 3 SheetS-Sheet 1 Hwa.

.IN VEN TOR5 I MM ATTORNEY Nov. 2 1926.

E.--c. I lTcHr-IELD r-:r AL

FRONT AXLE Filed March 2e, 1923 s sheets-sheet f.

Nov. 2 1926.

E. c. LlTcHFn-:LD ET AL FRONT AXLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Y Filed March 26, 192.3

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INVENToRs: 6MM/v n l f I ATTORNEY stresses to which the ordinary front axle isA Patented Nov. 2, 19.26.`

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EDGAR o. LITCHRIRLD AND YCLARENCEc.y :HERMANN` 'or WATERLOO, I`owA;`sA1D j HERMANN AssIeNoR To sArn LITCHFIRLD.

i FRONT AXLE. 1 j' Application med March ze; y192s. serial No;- ,er/27,623.L

The present invention relates to vehicles of the type that are providedwith tongues or poles by which theymay be drawn about and has for its obj ect, specifically considered, -to improve the constructionot the front ends of such vehicles so as to secure great strength, l` make steering easy, provide capacity for ad-` i justment, both initially and after wear takes place, and coniine the stresses imposed on the front axles to those ldue to supporting the f overlying loads.

In Carrying out our invention swinging about vertical axes in the vicinity of their inner ends. r tore not required to swing bodily for steering purposes and is therefore relieved of the front `axle will be relieved from the draft stresses-that must be transmitted' from the pole to the trame of the vehicle body in order to move the vehicle.

Viewed in another of its aspects our invention may be said to have for its object to produce a novel and eti'ective adjustable tie between the vehicle 'frame members in the vicinity ot the trent and rear axles so asto guard against any possibility of the front pulling out from beneath the vehicle body.

The various `features of novelty whereby our invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out withparticularity in the claims; but for a full understanding of our y invention and of its `objects and advantages,

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the spreader` on a larger' scale than Fig. l, the pole and.

the means for connecting it to the steering arm being omitted; v

Fig. llis a horizontal section taken aboveu the front sill and looking down, one front wesupport l theV front wheels on spindles ca-pable ot The front axle i-s there- Awheel being omittediand a portion ofthe support torthe pole being shown in section; Fig. Vis aview, similartoFig. 4 but on a larger scale, of the inner end of the pole and its support; l Y y .r "60 Fig.. 6 is a plan view ot the clevis connecting the inner ends of the steering rods toe gether, the inner ends of said rods also being shown;

Fig-7 is a perspective view of one of the 65 bearing cones in thedraft appliances; and

Fig.V 8 is a .plan view, on a reduced scale, of the'iiront and rear sillsand the tie-rod connection between the same. y

Referring to the drawings, l vrepresents a `wagon box,.atthevfrontlend of which is a `transverse vmetal sill 2 having the ends bent up, as indicated at 3, 3, to form a U-shaped structure, the arms of which form the front vertical corner posts of the vehicle body. The sill with its arms may have any desired cross section, but we prefer to form it out of a channel iron bent so that the trough of the channel lies on theouter side. Directly below the front sill is the yfront axle conveniently made out offtwo parallel angle irons 4,4, so `disposed that each has one of its flanges arranged vertically, while the other flange of one extends forwardly and the secy ond flange of the other extends toward the rear. At each end of the axle is fixed a bearingblock V5; these blocks being conveniently v.fitted between the vertical anges of the two `of the sill, at the middle, is a metal bolster 7 having pedestals 8, 8 extending down between the two axle members. The pedestals are providedL with vertically elongatedslots 9 extending through the same, andthere are bolts l() passing through the vertical flanges V .of the axle angle Airons and through the slots 1 in the pedestals. The bolts l0 are surrounded by suitable sleeves or bushingsl 11 fitting 100 between the Vvertical flanges of the angle irons and serving as spacers to prevent the pedestals from being gripped tightly between the angle irons, and serving Valso as members to take the wear which would otherwise come on the bolts as the pedestals move up and down relatively to the axle.

-The sill is provided with downwardly-prov,jecting brackets 12, 12 bolted thereto near the ends, these brackets iitting loosely b e-llo cle instead of to the axle; and consequently tween the two angle irons of the axle and serving to maintain the sill in the saine-vertical plane as the axle, even though there be relative vertical movements between the sill and the'axle in that plane.

Each front wheel 13 is supported on a spindle 14 projecting horizontally fromy am spindle body 15, which is also provided with a vertical journal or spindle -1'6V rotatably fitted in one of the bearing blocks 5. Each spindle body is also provided with a forwardly-projecting arm 17 integral therewith or fixed thereto.v The outer endsof the two arms 17 are connected together by two tie rods 18, 18, each of which may conveniently have one end bent downwardly, as indicated at 19, and passed through a hole in the outer end of the corresponding arm 17 so as to form a hinge connection; while the inner ends of the rods may be adjustably connected, independently Vof each other,vto a suitable clevis 20. In the arrangement shown, the clevis is inthe form of an inverted U, each tie rod passing through-one of the arms of the'U and being provided with nuts 21 and 22 engaging'with opposite sides of such arm. It will be seen. that by adjusting the nuts on either tie rod, the effective length of that rod may be varied, and therefore the positions of the front wheels. relatively to each other may be varied. The clevis .is attached, by means of a bolt 26 or otherwise, to the front end of a steering arm 25, the rear end of which is pivoted to the front sill of the vehicle at the center of the latter so as to be capable of swinging about a vertical axis. It will therefore be seen that when the steering arm is moved toward the right or toward the leftit will carry with it the tie-rod connection` between the immediate supports for the two front wheels, and will therefore cause these wheels to swing in unison with each other. If the wagon tongue or pole be attached tothe steering arm, it will cause the wheels to shift about their vertical pivotal axis, whenever, the pole is swung toward the right or toward the left, and at the same time the pole will transmit the pulling stresses directly to the front sill of the vehithe'axle will not be called upon to bear lany of the usual stresses except those due to the load resting on the same. j

One of the Afeatures of our invention has to do with the connection between the steer ing arm, the pole and the front sill so as to permit the pole and the steering arm to swing about a vertical axis for steering purposes, and at the same time permit the pole to swing in a vertical plane without changing the operative relation lbetween it and the steering arm. In the particular arrangement disclosed, as best shown in Fig..

'2, the steering arm extends underneath and engages with the under side of the bolster, while a second arm or plate 27 overlies the .top of the sill just above the steering arm '29, and underneath the nut on the other end of the bolt, a cone-shaped bearing block 30; these blocks fitting complementary bearingseats in the members 25 and 27, respectively. In order better to distribute the pulling stresses at the sill, Vthe bolster may have a hub-like part 31'extending forward through the web of the sill and into a cylindricalv opening in the upper cone 30. rIhe small ends of the cones are directed towards each other and are provided with a few relatively narrow lugs or projections 32, as best shown inv Fig. 7 The lugs on the bottom cone bear -against the under side of the bolster, while the lugs on the upper cone bear against the top surface ofthe front sill. As wear occurs, the lugs may be shortened quickly and conveniently by simply filing or chipping them. In this way the cones are permitted to be drawn farther into the bearing openings in the members 25 and 27, thus compensating for wear.

Between the front end of the plate or strap 27 and-the underlyingV steering arm is arranged a block 34 which may conveniently be held in place by means of bolts 35 passing vertically through the members 25, 34 and 27. A bolt 36 extends transversely through the block 34, parallel with the axle. The block 34 is provided von Opposite sides with sleeve-like projections or .bushings 37 fixed thereto, surrounding the bolt 35, and provided at their inner ends with comparatively wide flanges or enlargements 38. Gn the rear end of the wagon tongue or pole 39 are fixed two castings or arms 40, 40 projecting rearwardly from the tongue or pole and having in such projecting portions openings large enough to receive the sleeves or bushings 37; the sides of the castings engaging with the flanges 3S which offer large bearing surfaces. In order to compensate for wear, we prefer not to have the bearings directly between the bushings and the members. 40,Y

and the nut on the bolt 36 so that the head iso and the nut need not be made unduly large. When this particular joint becomes more or less worn, the lugs on the cones are shortened in the manner heretofore explained in connection with the other pivotal joint for the pole, so as to permit the cones to take up the wear.

It will thus be seen that the pulling stresses are imposed direct-ly` on the frame-work of the vehicle body and are not transmitted through the axle. In order to help hold the sill in place and prevent it from being pulled out from under the box or body, we prefer to tie it to what may be termed the rear bolster wliich carries the bearings for the rear axle. This construction is best shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 8. Two rods, 45 and'46, are bolted at their front ends to the front sill, conveniently by means of bolts 47, 47 passing through the sill and the ends of the underlying front bolster. These rods extend rearwardly and outwardly to brackets 48, 48 attached to the frame of the body about half way between the front and the rear. Nuts 49, on the rear ends of these rods, and lying behind the brackets 48, permit the tension on the rods to be adjusted. Two other tie rods, 50 and 5l, extend rearwardly from the brackets 48 to the rear bolster 52, which has bearings 58 for the rear axle 54. The

rods 5() and 5l are provided at their rear` ends with eyes through which pass suitable fastening means for attaching them to the rear bolster. Onthe front ends of the tie rods 5() and 51 are nuts 56 lying` in front of the brackets 48, so that, by turning these nuts, the tension of the rods 50 and 51 may be varied.

lit will thus be seen that we have produced a simple and novel front end construction for pole-drawn vehicles, in which the axle serves simply as a load-supporting member and may therefore be semi-floating in character; in which the individually-pivoted wheels may be readily aligned and kept in alignnient; in which the steering is effectively accomplished by the lateral swinging of the jointV between the pole and the vehicle body can easily be made; and in which the front sill is effectively tied to the rest of the framework of the vehicle body to avoid the possibility of pulling the front sill away from vthe vehicle body.

`While we have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of our invention, we do not desire to be limited t0 the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definitions of our invention constituting theappended claims. Ve claim:

l. In combination, a vehicle body having Y a front sill, an axle made of two separated parallel beams lying` below said sill, wheel parallel beams lying below said sill, wheel supports on the ends of'said axle, pedestals extending down from the sill between said beams, said pedestals having verticallyelongated slots therethrough, bolts passing through the axle and through said slots,V

aligning members fixed to 'said sill near the ends thereof and projecting down therefrom between the two members forming the axle, and a draft device attached to the middle of said sill.

In testimony whereof, we sign this specification.

CLARENCE C. HERMANN. EDGAR C. LITGHEIELD. 

